Daily Archives: 6. October 2016

The Golden State Warriors lost the NBA finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers after being up 3-1, but they still broke the NBA’s regular season record.

So there might not be another NBA title banner in their practice facility or Oracle home arena this new season, but they have hung a 73-9 banner in their practice facility in Oakland, California to commemorate what they accomplished.

Warriors hang record regular season banner

Golden State had an amazing 2015-16 NBA campaign as they finished the regular season with a 73-9 record, breaking the record for the most wins in an NBA regular season set by Micheal Jordan and the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls.

The Banner includes the name of all the members of the record breaking team, 73 wins in an 82 game season is no easy feat and that banner looks like it would hang for a very long time.

Zidane says he does not fear the axe that seems to loom over him and believes Madrid will sack him one day.

The former Madridsta replaced Rafael Benitez at the helm of the club and led them to their 11th UCL title.

However, he could not deliver the La Liga trophy with Madrid finishing one point behind Barcelona.

Madrid have drawn four successive games – three in the league and one in the Champions League – and the pressure on Zidane has begun to build.

“I’m not afraid of being fired,” he told RMC. “Anyway, it will happen.

“I thoroughly enjoy what I do. I have an incredible opportunity, I am happy wth what I do. I enjoy my job, which is not always easy.

“But I want to learn and advance. Working with these great players I learn every day. I am dedicated to what I do on the field. What is interesting to me is the week [of training], more than the matches.

“I have an exceptional group, whether we win or we lose they are good people.”

Zidane believes Madrid’s current problems are more psychological than physical, and is confident he will be able to find a solution to get them back to winning ways.

He added: “What’s important it’s to find solutions and I’ll find the solution. There is nothing catastrophic, but it’s not trivial.

“I don’t think it’s a physical problem. It’s the first minutes of the games that are penalising us. The content of these games in LaLiga were very bad, especially against Villarreal.

Portugal head coach Fernando Santos has hailed Cristiano Ronaldo as a source of inspiration for the young stars in his squad.

Ronaldo is set to make his return to the Portugal squad for the first time since the Euro 2016 against Andorra.

The Real Madrid man was brought off in the first half of the 1-0 win over France in the Euro final, but returned to the dugout to spur his teammates on.

Santos, however, says his captain’s successes at club level – which include three Champions League titles – are a true source of motivation for the rising stars at his disposal.

“When you have the best player in the world, what do you think will happen? Cristiano is Cristiano,” he said. “Of course, he always wants to be present in the national team and has a lot of value. It’s not only the quality he has, but he means a lot to the younger ones.

“He is a player who has many titles, and always want to win more and more, and this is very important in this team, which has many players who are taking their first steps.

“Many of them have won a very important trophy, but do not have so many titles in their careers. And you know how important a player is who has titles, because it gives them strength. And as I said, the presence of Cristiano has a lot of value for the team.”

Portugal suffered a 2-0 defeat to Switzerland in their opening qualifying match, but Santos has no concerns that the European champions will not be involved at Russia 2018.

“I am sure that Portugal will be at the world championship,” he said. “It’s a team of great quality. They know very well what they have to do and I have great confidence in them.

“The World Cup is something that I’ve never had with Portugal. It’s the first time. It’s natural that the players have an ambitious outlook, it is natural that they want to be in this championship.”

A total of 7,298 corps members are expected to pass out of the service year in the 2015 Batch B. Out of that number, 4,080 corps members will be passing out as stream I, while the rest are stream II and will be passing out on November 4, 2016.

Speaking at a ‘passing out’ ceremony on Thursday at the NYSC Permanent Orientation Camp, Kubwa, Abuja, the Director-General, Brig.-Gen. Sule Kazaure, disclosed that about 65 of the corpers will not be passing out due to one reason or the other.

He said: “For now, only the 2015 Batch B stream I is passing out and they are 4,080. “The rest of them who are in the 2015 Batch B stream II will pass out on Nov. 4, 2016.

“About 65 of them will not be passing out due to one reason or the other. These corps members are likely to face an extension of their service year.

“One corps member died during the service year from an auto crash. Some corpers distinguished themselves by embarking on developmental projects during the service year; they will be honoured by the FCT Minister in November.’’

Represented by Mr Adewoye Omotayo, the NYSC FCT Coordinator, Kazaure added that the scheme held back the yearly ceremony due to current economic challenges facing the country.

“It was a decision made to ensure that all corps members remain safe. On a day like this there is usually a lot of movement of corps members and to prevent any problem from arising we decided to hold back any ceremony.

“The ceremony was also stepped down nationwide because the 2015 Batch B set of corps members were divided into streams I and II. We cannot hold double ceremonies for them just a few weeks apart,” Kazaure said.

IK Ogbonna rejected N20m for his sperm

He added: “On that faithful day while sitting waiting for my sister, a woman met me with her husband and offered me N20m to donate my sperm, who probably could be impotent.”

“After having several thoughts about the offer, I told myself that I was would be a very great man someday, and my kids of mine will live out of sight. That is the highest temptation I have ever experienced all my life.”

Professor Femi Bamiro, the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan was shot on Tuesday night in Ibadan by unknown gunmen.

Details about what happened or why it happened are still sketchy, but the Professor was reportedly attacked around his Ibadan home and shot in the leg. He was rushed to the University College Hospital, Ibadan, where he is said to be responding to treatment.

Professor Femi Bamiro was the 10th vice-chancellor of the University of Ibadan between 2005 and 2010 and a predecessor to the immediate past VC, Isaac Adewole, who is now the Minister of Health.

The University’s Director of Communication, Olatunji Oladejo, confirmed the incident, adding that the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic of the school, Prof. Gbemisola Oke, and the Registrar, Olujinmi Olukoya, had visited him at the UCH.

He said, “I can confirm to you that our former vice-chancellor, Prof. Bamiro, was shot on Tuesday night. There is no detail of the shooting for now. The school’s DVC, Academic and Registrar have visited him at UCH on behalf of the school. What I can say further is that we are thankful to God that he is responding to treatment. We are in touch with the hospital management whom we trust to offer the best treatment to the former VC.”

A Nigerian pastor during a crusade has been exposed as he was filmed performing a fake miracle by a man with a hidden camera.

The man with the hidden camera wrote:

“Please share this so people will learn to look up to God instead of men who claim to be called by God. I was at the event live and this is not hear say. They have paid gangs who work with them. I have always suspected him so I went with my hidden Camera.

Pay attention to 2:20–2:40 minutes section of the video, you will notice a young man drop a black polyethylene bag in front of the sick man from where two dead lizards popped out from. I saw what happened and I didn’t want to embarrass them so I had to quietly follow the boy who dropped the lizard to question him in private and collect his number.

I made him my friend and over a period of 2 weeks, I bought his trust and he confessed to me that the priest pay up to 15k per deal and that they were about 7 working for him. He confessed of sneaking into peoples compound at night to bury charms which the same Man of god who sent them will unearth the next day or whenever they come for covenant breaking.“

According to Mr. Gabriel Nwachukwu who has had prior dealings with him;

“l know this Priest very very well and he’s fake!!! He was invited to my own compound l mean my own blood elder sister invited him for family deliverance on August 12th 2012 in Ogbor ugiri community, lsiala Mbano. after my elder brother’s mysterious death. And he did the same thing he did here, he took us to our backyard and began to dig the ground, at a point he began to pour water into the hole in the ground and asked us to close our eyes, face up and pray. few seconds later he asked us to open our eyes and look, without digging the hole any further he asked his servant to pour back some of the sand into the hole and then asked him to open the hole again, as he was removing that same sand from the same hole, he brought out something tied with red clothe.

“The red clothe was still shiny and fresh,,,,Haba,,something buried for a long time?? And they put it inside their bag…God knows l and my immediate elder never believed it……He said he knew the person that did it and that he will tell us his name the next day during our family meeting but he did not come to our house rather he asked his boys to come and carry the working materials they left in our compound and didn’t tell us the name of the person that did the evil, even when we went to his fake adoration ground at somewhere in Ehime Mbano, that same day, he refused talking to us, told his boys to tell us that he was busy and till today he never told us anything or come to our compound or community.

“Before he was claiming a catholic priest, before the Catholics denied him then, he proclaimed himself an Anglican priest, which my mother still has his fake amalac (calender) of Anglican priesthood, in her room and the Anglicans also denied him, he now claims to a catholic priest under East American catholic church……isn’t that funny?”

An 18-year-old JSS3 student of Junior High School, Ogudu, Sadiq Adegbite, allegedly stole N200 from a fellow pupil and used charm to harass other colleagues.

The accused was on Thursday brought before an Ogudu Magistrates’ Court in Lagos and is now facing three counts of conspiracy, stealing and disorderly conduct. The prosecutor, Sgt. Lucky Ihiehie, said the complainant, a 15-year-old student of the same school, came to the Ogudu Police Station to report the incident.

Sgt, Ihiehie said while the complainant was returning from school at Emmanuel Street, Ogudu, he was stopped by the accused and some of his friends who are now at large. “They were harassing him and searching his pockets for money and they even beat him up. They dispossessed him of his N200 transport fare which was the only money he had in his pocket.”

“A senior student came to the complainant’s rescue and the accused brought out some charms from his pocket to scare them before the police came” The prosecutor said.

The offences contravened Sections 166 (d), 285 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011. However, the accused, Sadiq Adegbite, pleaded not guilty. His counsel, Olusegun Aghahowa, pleaded with the court to grant him bail on liberal terms considering his age.

In her ruling, the Magistrate, Mrs O. Sule-Amzat, admitted the accused to a bail of N10,000 with two sureties, one of who must be a blood relative of the accused with an evidence of gainful employment.

The “Trap Queen” star was in court to answer for several minor driving infractions including tinted windows. Fetty had accumulated fines worth $360, and the Grammy Nominated star came prepared.

Witnesses at the court say the 25-year-old Zoo Gang leader’s cash was so much, it was bulging out of his jean pockets and spilling out. Fetty himself estimated the cash to be $165,000.

Fetty Wap pays fines in style

According to TMZ, he pleaded guilty to driving with a suspended license and failure to replace lost or defaced license plates, adding to the tinted windows charge. He was pulled over by police on July 6, and he was then arrested and released. He also admitted a charge after police came to his home more than twice due to false alarms.

Outside the court room however, he joked that his problem was the fact he had been ‘driving while black and rich.’

Fetty’s lawyer told the judge he needed the tinted windows due to his glaucoma affliction. If the judge agrees, he might end up keeping them. His medical exemption application is still pending.

It was also learnt that Majid, together with his colleagues, Timothy Bentum and Pascal Amanfo, were spotted at a recently held event, themed: ‘Breaking Alters,’ praying and anointing the congregation, at the church located at Lapaz Tabora Number 4, in Accra, Ghana.

He has also been spotted lately dishing the ‘Word of God’ to his followers on Instagram.

The actor is yet to officially confirm the veracity of this development but pictures tell a thousand words.

In anticipation of his already first project – “Son Of Mercy” since joining Sony Music Entertainment International Limited; Davido shares short clips of his trip to London for the promotion of the Extended Play project; which has been scheduled for release on the 21st of October 2016.

The EP – Son Of Mercy house 5 tracks inclusive of the Shizzi produced tune “Gbagbe Oshi (download mp3 HERE)” where DavidO went HAM.

There are strong indications that a total of 184 civil servants were disciplined for their different roles in the padding of the 2016 budget.

This revelation was brought to light in a book authored by Prof. John Paden – a Buhari authorised biography – ‘Muhammadu Buhari: The Challenges of Leadership in Nigeria’, and presented to the public on Monday.

Author of the book, Prof. John Paden in a handshake with President Buhari as former heads of state Yakubu Gowon and Olusegun Obasanjo look on

Out of the 184 officials, Paden, in the book, revealed that 22 were dismissed from service.

According to him, the president viewed the padding as an attempt to frustrate his administration’s innovations, hence his decision to wield the dismissal stick on those found culpable.

The author wrote, “Buhari himself was frustrated by earlier padding of the budget by bureaucrats in some of the ministries.

“This was interpreted by the Buhari team as an attempt to scuttle the innovations proposed by the President by inflating their costs.

“When Buhari found out, he was reported to be angry and ordered a purge of the ministries involved from the Director-General down.

“Twenty-two top officials were dismissed, including the budget director. In all, 184 civil servants were disciplined.”

The book also stated that Mr Buhari is in possession of some letters, written by former President Goodluck Jonathan, to request “off-budget funds.”

According to The Punch, the former president in some of the letters, had requested “off-budget funds”- which means as funds not provided for or included in the regular Federal Government budget; funded by sources other than the federal budget.

The author captured the travails of the former office holders in Chapter 20 of the book, which is titled ‘Corruption and law in military procurement’.

The author wrote: “The fact that Buhari was enlisting the help of international community in the probes lent weight to the seriousness of his effort – and also meant that alleged offenders had nowhere to hide.

“Would the trail lead to former President Jonathan himself? As of the early months of 2016, it appeared that the EFCC was not going after Jonathan. Nor was it going after former President Obasanjo.

“The question of the stability of the entire political system seemed at stake.

“In addition, a number of senior military officers, who had served as Heads of State – from Babangida to Abubakar – seemed off-limits.

“Indeed, rumours swirled that if the probes went after senior officers, they might push back because they had extensive networks in the active military services.

“At the same time, the knowledge such heavyweights possessed could well be traded for immunity and would help to illuminate the patterns and sources of corruption.

“Buhari had letters in his possession showing Jonathan’s requests for off-budget funds. But Buhari’s larger purpose was not to put former high-level officials in jail.

“Rather, it was to retrieve stolen funds and to change the political culture of the country.”

While two pupils were rescued by a police team, the gunmen escaped with two other pupils, a teacher and the VP.

Confirming the abduction, the state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, stated that the police has mobilised a team on aerial surveillance of the area.

“The command, the navy, the SSS, the army and the marine police are all involved in the search,” Owoseni said.

Also speaking on the development, Wale Raji, a lawmaker from the state, who was informed about the incident after the House resumed plenary today, was compelled to bring it to the attention of the House and, by extension, the country.

He said: “I am just learning that a group of kidnappers struck today in my constituency where they kidnapped students and principals.”

New Black Elite films, Str8buttah Productions and Trogge Urban have come together to give us a beautiful video for Nigerian soul singer Maka’s song – Good Time.

Good Time, produced by Str8buttah’s Teck-Zilla is taken off Maka’s recently released The Truth EP and equally serves as Original Sound track for soon to hit cinemas film – Dinner. Dinner, written, directed and produced by Jay Franklyn Jituboh is his debut feature length film and boasts of an ensemble cast of Nollywood’s finest actors. Starring award winning Richard Mofe-Damijo,

All is set for the release of Aramide’s album!

Afro Soul Diva – Aramide, who has over the years carved a niche for herself in the music industry is finally ready to release an album- the first since she started her music career in 2011.

“I’ve got #Thekeys, I am finally ready to take you guys on a journey #November” …The AfroSoul Diva tweeted this morning
She is yet to announce the title of the album, but going by her tweet and the response from friends and team members, there is a slight chance that the album will be titled The Keys

Aramide is a pioneer of the Afro soul genre in Nigeria; over the years she has been able to merge her sound with Afrobeat and jazz.

A source in the community, who witnessed the incident, revealed that the suspected kidnappers were apprehended after they forcefully snatched the newborn from the mother.

The source said: “They kidnapped the baby boy and took to their heels immediately. The traumatised mother raised the alarm immediately, which caught the attention of some youths around. The youths quickly intervened, caught the three of them and burnt them alive.”

The source, who craved for anonymity, also stated that the angry youths meted out jungle justice to the alleged kidnappers as a deterrent to others after a similar incident had taken place in the community penultimate week when kidnappers stole a baby from the mother.

The source continued: “The youths were angered by the fact that a baby girl was stolen in the community two weeks ago. They wanted the killing of the kidnappers to serve as a deterrent to others.”

Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer, in the state, Mr. Andrew Enwerem, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said he was awaiting full details from the LGA Divisional Police Officer.

The Nigerian army has said its troops are currently consolidating on the successful capture of several areas in Northeast Nigeria, adding that the war on Boko Haram terrorism is almost coming to an end.

Speaking on Wednesday to newsmen in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, the Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj.-Gen. Lucky Irabor stated that the capture of the terrorists’ last stronghold was a pointer to the level of success recorded by the army.

The Major General also averred that the success was achieved not without cost, as the troops lost both lives and equipment.

Also at the parallel market, the naira gained a point against the dollar, exchanging at N475 from N476 posted on Tuesday, while it closed against the Pound Sterling and the Euro at N590 and N510, respectively.

At the Bureau De Change (BDC) segment of the market, the naira traded at N354 against the dollar, and at N580 to the Pound Sterling and N510 to the Euro.

Naira firms against dollar

Traders at the market said that the sale of foreign exchange to BDCs was already easing the liquidity challenges at the market.

London and Africa’s elite gathered together at the city’s exclusive BONHAM’S Auction House last night to experience AFRICA NOW – an exciting showcase celebrating African music, art and fashion hosted by Cuppy & Temi Otedola.

Temi’s trendy fashion presentation was followed by sister DJ Cuppy who thrilled the huge crowd with a high energy, interactive musical set featuring a selection of Afrobeat / Pop music and was joined onstage by African dancers and talking drummers.

With their mission of bringing Africa to the world, the Otedola sisters are definitely proving why they are among the hottest industry names as evidenced by their passion and love of African music and fashion.